Economic Indicators May 2020

Airport Passenger Volumes

The passenger numbers for April and Year to Date, 2020 are available and as expected, are clearly showing the severe negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel sector. All current indicators call for a slow recovery starting in Q2 with moderate recovery in Q3 and Q4. Recovery will be largely dependent on travel and physical distancing restrictions, demand, and availability of disposable income for leisure travel. On a more positive note however, airlines have indicated no further reductions to service in the Kamloops market are planned and a phased reentry into the market by Air Canada Express is tentatively scheduled for mid-June.

Source: Kamloops Airport Authority

Home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems dropped by a record 56.8% in April 2020 compared to an already weakened March, with a majority of sellers and buyers having seemingly moved off to the sidelines during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Transactions were down on a m-o-m basis across the country. Among Canada’s largest markets, sales fell by 66.2% in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), 64.4% in Montreal, 57.9% in Greater Vancouver, 54.8% in the Fraser Valley, 53.1% in Calgary, 46.6% in Edmonton, 42% in Winnipeg, 59.8% in Hamilton-Burlington and 51.5% in Ottawa.

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity dropped by 57.6% on a y-o-y basis, marking the lowest April sales figure since 1984. Similar to the m-o-m changes above, declines in the biggest markets were clustered in the 55%-70% range.

Sources: Kamloops and District Real Estate Association, BC Real Estate Association, and Canadian Real Estate Association

There were 109 new housing starts in Kamloops in May 2020, which was up from the 64 starts in May 2019. The 109 housing starts represented $21,196,600 in construction value, compared to $20,748,724 in construction value for the 64 housing starts in May of the previous year.

Source: City of Kamloops; Statistics Canada

In May 2020, the City of Kamloops issued 28 residential building permits valued at $21,662,620, an slight increase over total permits issued in May of the previous year at a value of $21,478,904. A total of 6 commercial building permits were issued in May 2020 with a value of $1,125,000 compared to the 18 permits issued in May 2019 with a value of $9,741,000.

Source: City of Kamloops